Are you in a sports team or a society? Do you have a group of mates who like to get stuck in? Do you like a challenge?

This year, we're partnering with local charity Support Dogs on a brand new fundraising challenge, and we're looking for teams of students to get involved. This could be a whole society or sports team, or a smaller team of friends.

If you and your mates are ready to get creative and competitive, use your skills and strengths as a team to raise as much money as possible for Support Dogs.

Who are Support Dogs?

Support Dogs is a Sheffield-based charity which trains highly skilful assistance dogs to partner with adults and children suffering from life-changing and life-limiting disabilities and medical conditions. They run three programmes: autism assistance dogs for children, disability assistance dogs for adults, and seizure alert dogs for people with epilepsy - they are the only organisation in the UK that trains seizure alert dogs to do this specialist work. From keeping children calm and safe to alerting their owners prior to an oncoming epileptic seizure, from raising the alarm in emergencies to helping open doors and helping to get dressed in the morning, support dogs transform the lives of their families.

How does it work?

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to plan and deliver a fundraising event or activity that will raise money for Support Dogs.

First, you'll need to assemble your team and get them registered with us. Registrations are open from 1-31 April 2025.

You'll need to select a "Team Leader", who will act as a contact between us and your team. Your team leader must also be available to attend a briefing ahead of the challenge, and a debrief afterwards.

Each team will be provided with a "seed fund" - a pot of £25 to be spent on whatever materials and equipment your team might need to pull of your fundraising idea. You will also be given some branded promotional materials from Support Dogs, such as collection buckets/tins, magazines/leaflets, bunting, stickers, balloons, posters, etc.

You will then have between 28 April and 16 May to plan, organise, and deliver your fundraising idea, with the challenge closing on 16 May.

You don't just have to just engage with students - we encourage you to get out and about into different areas and communities, as well as getting your families and friends involved!

After the closing date, we will confirm the total amount raised as well as the amount raised by each team, and the team who has raised the most money will win a prize.

The rules

• Make sure you keep hold of receipts for any purchases you make with your seed fund, as these will need to be returned to Support Dogs along with any unspent money.
• Don't spend anything over your allotted £25, this is to ensure that the challenge is fair for all teams.
• All events and activities must be approved by the SU Volunteering team and Support Dogs.
• The maximum size a team can be is 10 people.
• You are responsible for your seed fund of £25. If you spend the money and are not able to recuperate it through fundraising, your team will be responsible for paying back that £25 to Support Dogs.

Targets

Want something for your team to work towards? Here's what your fundraising could pay for:

• £10 provides 24 hours of vital care and assistance to someone affected by autism, epilepsy, and disability by a specialist support dog.
• £35 pays for the equipment needed to help a support dog keep a child with autism safe while on a busy street or crossing a busy road.
• £75 pays for a month of health and welfare costs for a rescue dog training to become a support dog.
• £100 pays for a two hour training session for a disability assistance dog, providing them with the skills to give life critical alerts to their client.
• £500 pays for a two day home matching session enabling a child with autism to meet their future support dog at their home for the first time.
• £1,000 could pay towards a week residential session for an epilepsy seizure alert dog and their new client, providing them with the skills to give life saving alerts to their client.

Want to sign up?

Gather your team then sign up online.

We'll ask for your name and contact details, as well as the names of everyone in your team, when you sign up. Please note we only need one sign-up form completing per team, so elect one of your group to complete the form on behalf of everyone!

Sign up to the challenge